the best part of Christmas.

But all the other pictures and fun aside...the best part of Christmas was being able to be here where there were no Christmas carols or Christmas trees.  Weird, I know.  Now, being away from family was really hard, but it let me get to experience Christmas for what it really is.  The celebration of His coming down.  It was raw.  It was real.  It just was what it is meant to be.

The best part of the day was when we gathered with a few Toposa believers under a tree by the compound.  This was away from the other celebrations that were going on which involved the Toposa dressing up in their cleanest, newest, best Western-ized Toposa gear and bringing their once-a-year offering to important "church" men from town who then put oil on their head to forgive them of their sins.

It was a joyous occasion to sing songs and then listen to Luke 1 and 2 with the believers.  They discussed the truths from those chapters, about Jesus' coming as Immanuel, being born "God with us!"  And then we sang some more!

 The trees we worshipped under!

Part of a Toposa man's Christmas dress-up attire

Shannon reading the Bible with one of his leaders

Yes.  That is a bra on her head.  

She's getting ready for the festivities and made a stop by our tree to greet us.

Waiting before worship time started...

Toposa gathered around Carrie to see the picture she just took of them.

The group!  Brothers in Christ!

(There were no women who came) 

One of the very first luminarios in South Sudan.  :)

He has come.

Let us rejoice!

"But the angel said to them, 

'Do not be afraid. 

I bring you good news of great joy

 that will be for all the people. 

Today in the town of David

 a Savior has been born to you;

 He is Christ the Lord.'"

Luke 2:10-11

Christmas Morning.

After a wonderful skype with my big family at Sonny and Nana's house, one that nearly brought giant tears of joy down my face when they let me sing the Lord's Prayer song with them, I headed over to the Lewis house around 6:30am where Mindy and Carrie had just finished making pumpkin pancakes!  

 Yummy breakfast!  Coffee, real pumpkin pancakes, apples, and bacon!

 I think the boys got up way before the sun.
We made them wait until 6:30am.
And then we made them wait for a picture before seeing what "Santa" brought for them.  Ha!

 Santa stopped for us too!
A pumpkin, green pepper, candy, pens, post-its, and ornaments!

 The boys went to town opening their gifts!  

So many helicopters and planes and noise-making plastic guns!

YUM.  YUM.  YUM.

All the gifts again...plus the coffee creamer from the states and a re-gifted can of popcorn from the Lewis' white elephant gift from Uganda!

Christmas Eve.

 The decorations on the table for Christmas Eve--the boys found and put up the tree all by themselves!

 Jesus in the manger amongst the cows, goats, sheep, and donkeys--not in an inn, house, hotel, or big hospital and not among crowds or important people.

Homemade pizza--Mindy's family tradition!

 Birthday Cake for Jesus--my family tradition!

 There are 7 colors of sprinkles to add to the white cake--that's one for each of us on the Toposa team!

Me and Mindy with the completed cake!   (Can you tell that we are sweating on Christmas Eve?  Maybe?  Just a little?)

 Davis, Benton, and Walker with the cake!

 The cake.
Jesus is:
Lord of Heaven (silver),
King of Kings (purple),
Light of the World (yellow),
Servant (brown),
Creator (green),
Perfect and Pure (white)
and Savior (red).

 We each changed the words from a Christmas carol to a more Toposa style song!  Mindy and I chose "12 Days of Christmas" about 12 days on which the Toposa gave to us things like..."2 clinic runs"...

 "And a story group under a tree!"

 Shannon chose "Jingle Bells"--
"Jingle bells, AK-47 shells, Toposa all around..."

And the boys picked "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"--
"The most famous Toposa word of all...
Nyakinai dang..." (which means give to me also!)

Christmas Eve Day.

 It began as a quiet day.  Benton and Davis wanted to make a stepping stone for their parents for Christmas.  There was this neat kit we found in the school!

 Davis and Benton hard at work deciding on a design.

 Completely unsuspectingly...while I was washing the dishes...

 This little soldier, better known as Walker Lewis...

 Snuck up on me!

So I put him in an arm lock!   

Nearly finished product...Benton added an "L" made out of little pebbles in the middle when it was dry enough to hold them.

He Came Down.

A song of His Story, and how He came down to bring us back to Himself.  He gave me the words to "He Came Down" this past week...

In a garden
Fellowship perfect
A man and woman lived with God.
They had everything they needed.
Then they were deceived,
Doubts they believed,
And they ate the fruit of their sin.
And You had to curse them,
You had to cast them out,
Because You are God Most High.
But...

CHORUS:
You came down
You pulled close
You held out Your hands
And made them animal skin clothes.
You, Creator God
Could not bear the separation
Prophesy of redeemer You laid out
To make for Yourself
A nation.

In Egypt
Burdened with slavery
The people of Israel cried out to God.
And You gave them a leader.
You came to save,
Bringing the plagues,
To show Your power once again.
You had to deliver,
You had to lead them out,
Because You are God Redeemer.

CHORUS:
You came down
You pulled close
You held out Your hands
For Your people the Red Sea to cross.
You Creator God
Could not bear the separation
Your laws You laid down
To set apart for Yourself
Your nation.

In a stable
Quiet awe and wonder
A virgin gives birth to the Son of God.
Now the world had all it needed.
You came to preach,
Repent and believe,
And be no longer captive to sin.
You had to leave Your throne,
To teach about a better home,
Because You are God the King.

CHORUS:
You came down
You pulled close
You held out Your hands
And were born in swaddling cloths.
You Creator God
Could not bear the separation
Your crown You laid down
To call back to Yourself
Your nation.

In Jerusalem
Condemnation and suffering
The soldiers crucified perfect God.
And in that moment it all was finished.
And while people shouted,
You only nodded,
For this was the reason You came.
You undid the curse,
To let them return,
Because You are God the Savior.

CHORUS:
And...
You came down
You pulled close
You held out Your hands
To be nailed to a cross.
You Creator God
Could not bear the separation
Your life You laid down
To restore to Yourself
All nations.

You brought us out to bring us in
For the sake of Your Name.

"But He brought us out from there to bring us in..."

Deuteronomy 6:23

Merry Christmas from the Toposa Team!

I couldn't decide which one I liked best, so I am sharing them all!

And just because this one was fabulous...

Merry Christmas from the South Sudan Journeygirls!

decked the "halls".

We decked our "halls" this past weekend.  Here's to chains of thanksgiving, each one with a written inscription of something someone from back home or here on the compound is thankful for!  They make delightful Christmas decorations!  (Thanks Mom!!!)  Especially because they match the strange colors of our kitchen!

On another note, our solar power has been finicky due to...the sun.  That's right!  The sun moves positions (or rather the earth tilts during the changing season).  Therefore, there were more trees blocking the solar panels and decreasing the amount of power coming in and being retained.  Thankfully there was a man from the solar company in Juba that was here in town working on something else, and he stopped by the compound and checked out our system.  He also told us the best way to fix it.

Enter....Loparinga (aka Shannon) + chainsaw.  He shimmied up trees and chopped off three giant branches, correctly calculating the exact place they'd fall on the ground.  The branches missed the panels, missed the fence, and missed the kitchen!  Since then, we have had an increase in sunlight hitting the panels in the afternoon, and more power, enough to last through the night!!!

Hadn't seen 23V in weeks!

And it added to our Christmas decorations!  That "tree" you see?  A very thorny limb from a nyaronyit (or desert date) tree!

Praise the Lord.

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Come Lord Jesus, come.

because of Lottie Moon.

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

Some of you may completely understand what I mean by this.
Some of you may only remember hearing it somewhere.
Some of you may have no clue what it is.

Don't worry!  To be quite honest, I had no idea what it was either until a year ago when I began the journeyman process.  But now I do, and I praise the Lord for the LMCO!!!

Lottie Moon was a single female missionary to China for 39 years.  She went to China in 1873.  While there, she wrote many letters home pleading with people in churches back home to come and serve God alongside her in China or to send money so that other missionaries could go to reach the many in China who had not heard of Jesus Christ.  A group of Southern Baptist women, by the year 1888, had gathered together and raised over $3000 for missions in China.

Eventually, the annual offering taken up around Christmas time in Southern Baptist churches was named after this amazing woman of God.  It is called the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.  Most churches belonging to the Southern Baptist Convention collect this offering this time of year.

So nowadays, where does the money go?  Well... let me show you...

About 57% of the money that goes to International Mission Board missionaries, like me, is raised from the LMCO!

Right now, there are currently 4,952 IMB missionaries all over the world.
Right now, there are currently 6,750 unreached people groups, meaning less than 2% are evangelical Christians.
Right now, there are currently 3,684 unengaged, unreached people groups, those where there is no church.  Period.

I don't know if your church has this offering or not, but please take time this Christmas to think about Lottie Moon and her passion for those people who have not yet heard the Truth, those who have no idea who "The Reason for the Season" is or even what that phrase means.  If you struggle, because you may not see the end result of money you might be feeling led to give, think about me.  I would not be able to take people to the clinic without the car Lottie paid for.  I could not encourage to a language helper to meet me to translate without the bike Lottie paid for.  I would not ever have cold food without the refrigerator and solar power that Lottie paid for.  I would not even be here at all without the money given to SBC churches for the LMCO and at other times by people like...you.  Thank you!

And, I thank Lottie.

"How many there are ... who imagine that because Jesus paid it all, they need pay nothing, forgetting that the prime object of their salvation was that they should follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ in bringing back a lost world to God ... Why should we not ... instead of the paltry offerings we make, do something that will prove that we are really in earnest in claiming to be followers of him who, though he was rich, for our sake became poor?"

- Lottie Moon

Tungchow, China

Sept. 15, 1887